August 16, 2003

KIDS THESE DAYS

When did ten-year-olds get this damn smart? Check the quote, then consider that the speaker was born in 1993. Wow.

Posted by Tim Blair at August 16, 2003 02:08 AM
Comments

A ten-year-old who has already figured out that his teachers are insincere burnout cases? Not all that uncommon, I'd suspect.

Posted by: nofixedabode at August 16, 2003 at 02:47 AM

That's got two-professional parents, high income, Upper West Side overachiever written all over it!

Posted by: KevinV at August 16, 2003 at 04:37 AM

A few more years of this kind of younger-and-younger cognitive maturity, and Calvin & Hobbes will no longer be a wry fantasy!

Posted by: Brian Tiemann at August 16, 2003 at 05:20 AM

Nowhere in the story do we see any reference to the real source of these precocious kids: GM corn.

Posted by: Harry at August 16, 2003 at 06:37 AM

I would say, "...they are doing it of," rather than, "on their own free will."

Puffed up little creep.

Posted by: Theodopoulos Pherecydes at August 16, 2003 at 08:41 AM

Ah, that kid probably used the internet to spruce up her quotation.

Posted by: Joe G. at August 16, 2003 at 09:06 AM

.... They're as old as my youngest sister... Yikes!

Posted by: Marty at August 16, 2003 at 10:20 PM

This thread reminded me of a citation in a rather interesting book I read. I went back and found the relevant passage. The book is called "Greatness," by Dean Simonton, and it is a study of who makes history, and why. Here is a letter written by Sir Francis Galton (I've left out the age until after, in case you want to guess):

My Dear Adele,

I am...years old and I can read any English book. I can say all the Latin Substantives and Adjectives and active verbs besides 52 lines of Latin poetry. I can cast up any sum in addition and can multiply by 2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11. I can also say the pence table. I read French a little and I know the clock.

Francis Galton

I copied this verbatim from the book. His age?

Five years old! (Actually the day before his fifth birthday). This can be found on page 224 of the book.

Amazing that a five-year-old could be overqualified for the NYT.

Posted by: Jerry at August 17, 2003 at 03:22 PM

That's nothing, before they cut my umbilical cord I told the gynaecologist he was an arsehole in five languages.

Posted by: Bob Postlethwaite-Humphrey-Jones at August 17, 2003 at 06:37 PM

No doubt he replied "And you're the next best thing to a cunt!"

Posted by: pooh at August 18, 2003 at 04:40 PM